As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
With the increase in complexity reflected in current information handling system designs has come a corresponding increase in difficulty in diagnosing error messages when the information handling system fails. One area of particular complexity flows from advances in information handling system memory systems and their corresponding devices. One such advance is information handling system support for dual-channel double data rate (DDR) memory.
In one aspect, dual-channel DDR memory generally involves concurrent operation of at least two memory controllers. For every clock cycle, there are preferably two reads executed into the memory. In addition, dual-channel DDR memory systems typically simultaneously employ at least two memory cards or memory sticks. The simultaneous use of multiple devices in dual-channel DDR memory systems in particular, creates significant problems in diagnosing information handling system memory errors.
In operation, many conventional memory software diagnostics typically point to a suspected faulty address location when attempting to ascertain reasons for memory failures. With a dual-channel memory system, identifying precisely which dual-inline-memory-module (DIMM) is at fault or failing using such diagnostic routine is often impossible. The diagnostic problem is further exacerbated in information handling systems employing as many as four (4) DIMMs.
Alternate methods for identifying failing DIMMs in a dual-channel memory system typically involve the expenditure of man hours iteratively disassembling the computer system and alternating the DIMMs included in the information handling system throughout repeated boots. In addition to the resources wasted through such iterative remove and reboot diagnosis routines, computer manufacturers dispatching replacement parts for such systems will frequently need to dispatch entire sets of replacement parts instead of sending replacement parts for only those parts legitimately suspected as defective or faulty. In many instances, if a customer calls an information handling system service center with a memory problem, a dispatch of multiple DIMMs must typically be sent to fix the problem when in fact only one DIMM is defective or faulty. Such scenarios create additional costs and expenses for information handling system servicers or providers in the form of dispatching multiple DIMMs first, and second in the form of later information handling system providers testing of those DIMMs received from the customer to identify those DIMMs which are indeed defective and those which are still operational.